The Villages joins with USF Health to create America's healthiest hometown

The Villages, FL (March 29, 2011) – The University of South Florida and The Villages, in partnership with The Villages Health System, have begun a study of the key components of health in retirement.

"Nothing is more important to a senior than his or her health,” said Gary Morse, developer of The Villages. "We’ve been searching for a creative, forward-thinking university partner to work with local health care providers, study our community and bring us innovative ideas that will enhance the health enjoyed by retirees. We want to create America’s healthiest hometown.”

"Together, we have a bold goal, namely to use our public health, information technology and medical knowledge to help the residents of The Villages live longer and better,” said Dr. Stephen Klasko, dean of the USF College of Medicine and chief executive officer of USF Health. "We’ll listen, we’ll assess, and then we’ll implement a series of action steps to focus on the ways to make the biggest difference in their quality of life. Our relationship is much larger than a single study. We’re here for the long term to ensure that every resident has the chance for optimum health, as defined by him or her.”

USF Health’s action steps will include education, behavior change and personalized medicine. "We all envision the ideal health care of 2020,” Klasko said. "Now we need to make that happen, right here, right now. For example, imagine being able to design medical care that’s customized to an individual’s behavioral and molecular profile. Imagine every resident and physician connected electronically so that health information is available instantaneously.”

To read the rest of this story, visit http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/health/now/?p=18118